couldn't
Americancontraction
Usage
See care, contraction.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Farmers think to themselves, “This land and these animals have been in my family for four generations. I’m going to be the one that couldn’t make it?”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
They took to the internet and couldn’t find a single track time for Vasquez.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
Even in the opening phase of the war, when the Russians were predicted to win, they couldn’t maintain supply lines 100 miles or so beyond their borders.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
Leith added "the first time it touched me personally" was when she hired a young man who was "very good" but quit after three weeks and she couldn't understand why.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
As she smiled, she tasted the distinct warm, soft sweetness of SJ’s frybread and couldn’t wait to return so that she could get more practice, company, and, of course, more food.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
